He wants me to cut it all up into 25&5/8" pieces .... and join them back together so as to present the grain running front to back as opposed to (normal) lengthwise.

I explaned to him that we would be creating many joints as opposed to just the one where the counter tops change direction ...

He also wants me to use the 'waste' leftover to fabricate 4" backsplash from.

The more I think about it , the more inevitable problems I imagine coming from such an undertaking but I thought I'd just throw it out here into the 'forumsphere' to see if anyone thinks I would be nuts to try or if I should buck up and burn some blades?

Not ideal but I dont see why (post #215502, reply #1 of 1)

Not ideal but I dont see why you couldnt do it. If you are super worried about the joints you could use a marine epoxy glue (like west system) you could also pocket screw the pieces together from below.

Not sure how the backsplash idea would work out aesthetically but hey to each his own...